


December

by MillenniumHyperboloid



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 00:13:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20611712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MillenniumHyperboloid/pseuds/MillenniumHyperboloid
Summary: The other Yuugi was the King of Card games, Yuugi knew that better than anyone else after Duelist Kingdom. Battle City didn't raise any doubts that his other self could pull it off, but it doesn't mean he forgets he's still his other heart. Weird short ficlet that I'm not sure if I'd expand on, but I hope you enjoy for now ^^;





	December

Yuugi didn’t know what woke him up to walk down to his other self’s soul room. He woke up to a voice singing softly, it almost sounded like it could come from a woman except the richer chords gave way it could only be one person.

He walked to his other self’s soul room with mild anxiety, watching the walls pulse like a heartbeat. This was his other heart, the fact that he wasn’t hurt the second he entered was proof of the other’s trust. The first time Yuugi came was a nerve wrecking period in its own right, it was an accident but thankfully the spirit was quick to make sure his room’s traps didn’t activate. 

He was a private man. Yuugi respected it and admired it in a weird way, he didn’t know how to describe it exactly. His grandfather said it was puppy love, Jounouchi called it hero worship. Neither felt accurate, but it was something strong that pulled him close to the inaccurate reflection that was the other Yuugi. 

Yuugi put a finger against one of the veins lined along the door’s walls. It was cold, but it felt like something that once ran a warm pulse. Like a dead fish, he thought to himself creepily. 

He pushed the door open gently so a sound couldn’t be made, praying that whatever he found inside wouldn’t make his other heart upset. 

With intensity rivaling that of his matches with Kaiba, the spirit of the puzzle stared at playing cards placed neatly in rows on the floor. He was sitting crisscrossed, his arms folded like always. His eyes held a cold weight, eyebrows scrunched with thoughts that most likely ran all over with possible combinations. He had a dreamy like quality when he was deck building, nothing else mattered. His cards were his friends and family before he met Yuugi or their other friends. He had nothing but games in a level more extreme than Yuugi could ever know.

When Yuugi learned that fact, he felt guilty for how he used to be afraid of the spirit. He acted out because he wanted to help, thankfully they were able to heal old wounds together, but there would always be a part of Yuugi that ached.

He watched Atem lift a card with the same tenderness his mother used when she picked up his father’s briefcase. There was affection, something that didn’t need deliberation and came completely natural. The look he gave what Kaiba would call a dreg 3 star monster rivaled the way Yuugi looked at Anzu across the field during PE. 

The singing was so soft Yuugi forgot he could hear it. 

“Dancing bears, painted wings

Things I almost remember”

‘Why do his eyes have to be so lonely all the time,’ Yuugi felt himself wondering. He wanted to be enough. His wish was friends, and here was a friend he felt himself losing his mind over the more he learned about him.  
“And a song  
Someone sings  
Once Upon A December”  
The other boy had to cover his mouth when he saw a spirit jump out of the card after his other self placed it back on the ground. Not long after, there were card spirits stretching from their constraints as though they were waking up for the morning. 

“Someone holds me safe and warm  
Horses prance through a silver storm,”

There was a beaver warrior and feral imp standing near the spirt, looking at him with the same familiarity Yuugi recognized with Jounouchi and Honda when he walked into class any other day. It was familiar. It was something that belonged to the spirit, not Yuugi, that he could call his. The face his other self made at being seen as himself broke his heart.  
“Figures dancing gracefully  
Across my memory…”  
He was smiling, but it was more like the ghost of a smile. It was the same face he made when Yuugi would say to him that they would always be friends. He could never argue, but he sat there letting something nowhere near human place a claw on his shoulder. 

It was the closest thing he had to physical contact in a millennia.  
The spirit of the millennium puzzle stood up, taking his time. He could take his time greeting everyone in here, this was his room. The walls may be cold and unforgiving, carved with unforgiving barriers meant to keep the treasure inside as well as protect him from invaders. But here was his playroom, and these were his toys. They were his friends.

“Far away, long ago,  
Glowing dim as an ember,”  
Somehow, going in order with the confidence of someone who had greeted his party guests a million times before, he moved through each one of his subjects. They were his people, and they loved their King. 

Appropriately, there was the Dark Magician last. He was kneeling respectfully, pulled up with an assertive tenderness that a younger brother would do to get his sibling’s attention. The monster towered over the other Yuugi, the usual stony face smiling down at him with a loyalty that told everyone he was the King’s last line of defense to his heart. 

“Things my heart  
Used to know,  
Things it yearns to remember…”  
Before the spirit could put a hand on the monster in front of him, he released held in breath from too long ago. Meeting him halfway, the Magician ran a hand through his hair to push the spirit’s wild bangs out of his eyes.  
“And a song  
Someone sings”  
Yuugi saw tears. They were his own, and there were his other self’s  
“Once Upon,”  
Dark Magician smiled once more, gave a quick *tsk tsk*, playfully reminding the boy in front of him King’s didn’t cry. Especially not in front of his subjects.  
“A December”

Yuugi left before his other self could notice his presence. He woke up in his bed covered in sweat, tasting the acidic salt on his face from crying. He walked to the bathroom to wash his face, coming back to see the outline of his other self sitting at his desk. 

He stared at the moon, one hand on top of their deck while the other was casually folded against his torso. He looked more like himself again, face composed into his poker face. His eyes glanced over to meet Yuugi, crinkling slightly in the way Yuugi recognized now was friendliness. 

“What’s on your mind?”

**Author's Note:**

> Dumb idea came from me being sad on my birthday and I love YGO and Anastasia, so wynaut. This has been a thought that tormented me since I was 12, so please forgive the cheesiness ;;;; Normies try to make Kaiba the John Cusack guy when it should be Millennium World era Yuugi if you ask me :p
> 
> The song is from Anastasia (1997)


End file.
